Rajah's Curse

Chapter 7: A Royal Dinner

Prince Ali stood up when we entered. He went up to greet us. Then he clasped one of her hands and bowed over it, staring at the princess the whole time.

When he stood back up, he said, "Princess, you are so beautiful."

So, the prince thought he had moves, did he? If only he knew how many other princes had used that exact same trick on her before.

Jasmine just inclined her head. "I am honored, Prince Ali."

"May I escort you to the table?" he asked.

I snorted. It was only a few steps away.

The princess put a hand on my head to hush me and said, "If you wish it."

The three of us walked together, me on the right side and him on her left. The prince smelled odd. It was a scent I couldn't quite place, like oil, monkey, and some sort of spice.

When we were seated, the sultan clapped his hands. "It is so nice to have new people over for dinner. Isn't it, Jafar?"

"Yes, it is... a pleasure," The grand vizier said silkily but I saw the look he gave his parrot, Iago, before he turned to the prince and asked, "Prince Ali, where did you say Ababwa was?"

"Oh, it's pretty far away. I doubt you're familiar," the prince said glancing at his advisor.

The man nodded.

I didn't understand why the prince needed his advisor's help to answer such a basic question. It looked like Jasmine was right. Prince Ali was an idiot.

"Humor me," Jafar said. "I am quite knowledgeable about all of Agrabah's neighbors and allies."

It was true. Though it could be argued, Jasmine was the real head of the foreign policy department at the moment, she mostly stuck to trade. Jafar had been the grand vizier for both domestic and foreign policy ever since Grand Vizier Rikisha's replacement, Qaabil, had died.

Prince Ali was saved from answering by the sultan who huffed, "Enough about that." The sultan turned to Jasmine and said excitedly, "Prince Ali, is a most accomplished fellow, Jasmine. You should have seen him. He front-flipped from his elephant and landed inside the palace."

Prince Ali sent Jasmine a cocky grin.

I growled softly while Jasmine kept her expression neutral.

The sultan continued, "And he brought so many gifts from his travels. You should just listen to him talk about his amazing journey here. Come Ali, you must start from the beginning so Jasmine can hear."

So, the prince began his story. Jasmine pretended to listen, but I could tell by the way she was petting me that she wasn't paying attention. I was though.

The prince chatted with the enthralled sultan as Jafar glowered and I couldn't exactly blame the vizier. The prince was spinning a fairy tale about his trip to Agrabah. There was no way half of what he said could be true, but the sultan just smiled and nodded.

After all, the prince was a young human man. He was well-spoken and he was rich, ridiculously rich. That seemed to be enough for the sultan.

As Jasmine stared at her plate, the sultan peppered Prince Ali with questions. All the while the rest of us suffered through hearing his fantastical answers.

Apparently...

Prince Ali was wealthy beyond compare. He owned a zoo of exotic animals including 15 unicorns and a pair of griffons. He could fight off a whole army by himself and was as strong as ten regular men because each day he ran for ten kilometers and did hundreds of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. He also spoke 28 languages and was an excellent dancer.

I could not roll my eyes enough.

It was a relief when finally, during dessert, the prince broke off from his farcical dialogue to speak directly to Jasmine. "Princess," Prince Ali said, "you're so quiet tonight. I hope you're not bored."

Jasmine started. Her hand gripped my head in surprise. I was fairly sure she had not heard a word he'd said for the last hour. All the same, she managed a smile.

"Not at all," she lied in her court voice. "I have merely been wondering why such a wealthy and powerful noble is interested in me and my small kingdom." The princess's eyes sparkled dangerously.

It was a valid question. All eyes fixed onto the prince.

"Because of you, of course," the prince said, "Why else?" He really did look confused by her question.

Princess Jasmine smiled without humor. "You flatter me, but surely you must have other interests."

"None," he said leaning towards her.

I couldn't stop myself from growling as he said, "I already have everything else I could want. The only thing missing is a lovely wife."

Jasmine pressed her hand on my head and I did my best to control my instincts. Of all the corny lies he could have said, it was enough for me to want to bite off his pants. The only saving grace was Jasmine's silence. She was apparently stunned by how lame he sounded.

It was Jafar who cut in to continue the conversation. "I am sure your family has different feelings, Prince Ali. Please tell us more about them and your homeland."

After glancing at his advisor, the prince began to speak of his siblings and Ababwa. Jafar listened intently. While they were talking, the sultan leaned in and hissed to Jasmine, "The prince seems quite taken with you, my dear. Don't let this one go. He could be a great boon for Agrabah."

I almost snorted again. A boon indeed, more like a buffoon, the prince's answers had barely been plausible during his talk with the sultan. Now under Jafar's critical eye, Prince Ali seemed to have given up accuracy entirely. He was claiming that Ababwa was an ancient and prosperous trading city even though none of us had ever heard of it before. Even his advisor looked embarrassed for him. Prince Ali and his claims were ridiculous and no amount of apparent wealth or ill-suited compliments to the princess would fix that.

I looked up at Jasmine, hoping to see her draw the same conclusion, but her eyes had gone distant again. For now, it looked like the only man on the princess's mind was Aladdin and for once, I was glad of it.